The invention relates generally to power-driven conveyors and more particularly to conveyor systems having belts with article-supporting rollers actuated to divert articles toward a side of the belt.
Some conveyor belts include rollers that can be rotated to divert articles toward one side of the belt or the other. In the INTRALOX® Series 7000 Transverse Roller belt, the rollers are arranged with their axes of rotation aligned with the direction of belt travel. The rollers extend beyond top and bottom surfaces of the belt. A drive mechanism engages the rollers below the bottom surface of the belt and causes the rollers to rotate and divert articles across the width of the belt. The rollers in the INTRALOX® Series 7000 belt are separated transversely by belt structure that has drive recesses on a bottom surface for receiving the teeth of drive and idle sprockets. The belt structure separating the rollers limits the minimum transverse spacing of the rollers and the contact area available for supporting articles atop the rollers.